UK Day 2 - UMIST 'where its all started...'

Started our 2nd day in Mnchester very early in the morning as we wanted to go to Car Boot Sale yeahhh...bestnye!! Still remember during our student life 11 yrs ago, CB is one of the most looking forward activities during weekends. Kalau skg ni pergi lgi la banyak benda nk carik. We are eyeing more on children's books, dekat riyadh books are very expensive!! :( Went to Oldham CB with Mkck ana as our tour guide. Its so freezing cold that morning, kesian ayman n kak cik.  

At Oldham Car Boot. This dog is gigantic!! 

They were both looking up at the aeroplane. Notice that ayman got hooked with the big bus and never wanted to let it go. Nsib baik 2pd je hehe...

Back from the car boot, kakak asked 'Where are we going next Umi?' 

'Do you want to visit Umi's and ayah's school ??' *mischieviuos smile on*

'Of course!!!' Umi dgn ayah pergi sekolah kat mana? Naik apa? Belajar apa? Cikgu perempun ke lelaki and the questions kept pouring in...hahaha..

Picture taken 11 years ago. In 1998, taken by my lovely roomie Jijie :) Why am i wearing baju kurung? No idea! Must be bcos we were just came back from some msian events.

Umi dgn ayah right after umi's graduation day. Ayah bagi umi small teddy. Ayah kata taknak bg bunga sbb bunga cepat layu ..iyolah tu haha..

11 yrs ago we never had imagine that we will come back here right at this spot, taking this photo with our 4 lil rascals. Not 1, not 2 but 4!!! phewww...a lot has happen in our life and theres a lot more coming. Who knows what will happen in 10yrs time from now..only He knows. 

UK Day 1 - Manchester

Tengah tunggu pkck Acul setting up the car seats for kak cik n ayman in his car. Going to the nearest ASDA to do some groceries for our Road Tour. Later in the afternoon, ayah and pkck acul went to fetch our rental car which is then  become our 2nd home hahahaa...              

 

At the back is Mkck Ana's cosy house in Cheetham Hill. 

ASDA 24hr Hyper Market. Notice the parking signboard for "Parent and Child only' - This is one of the reason i wish we culd live in UK hmmm...

The ASDA  was exactly next to Manchester City Stadium as can be seen here.

Trip to Manchester United Old Trafford Stadium. 

Happy Birthday My Love...

Today is my dearest 34th birthday. I am so blessed to have him in my life. Alhamdulillah..

To dearest Abang, i just wanted to tell you this:

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.

I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.

I love you for the part of me that you bring out.

~extracted from Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

Love you dear...yesterday, today and forever.

Yours always, Ina. (22/4/2009)

UK Road Trip: 6th March 09 – 27th March 09

The idea to have a trip to UK came about when we got the news that my Sis-in-law will be following her husbd to Liverpool to pursue his pHd. This is real good news. We have been talking a lot on paying my DH’s untie a visit who is currently in MANCHESTER...yes!! OUR Manchester...ahhh..there so much sweet memories there  :) And the purpose of visiting becomes much reasonable now knowing that we will also be visiting ‘Lil Sarah (the girls cousin).  So then, the surfing and browsing for our ‘Trip Down Memory Lane’ begins…

Dec 08 – Start surfing for flight tickets. Planned to go somewhere in March/April. Reasons; winter just over and spring is coming. You dont want to explore UK during winter when the day time is shorter and the temp is like freezing cold! Got Saudiair tickets Ryadh-Manchester for ~SR1300/ea (50% offer). Available flight from mid march-end april only. Lesson learnt: plan your vacations early to save more.  Now the tickets are in our hands, apa lagi start browsing for details places to go lah!! 

Accomodations:

We are so lucky to have families in Manchester and Liverpool; and a close friend in Edinburgh who hv been constantly calling us to pay them a visit (in other word, they are offering us free accommodations!! Alhamdulillah. It sure did save us a lot) To Makcik Ana, Pokcik, Ma, Acul, Faizi and Ijan- thank you very much for your hospitality. Kami amat terharu dgn layanan yg diberi, Allah shj yg dapat membalas budi baik kalian semua. Ikhlas dari kami diRiyadh. So the only accomodation we need to settle is for our trip in London. We figure out that London is one of our must-visit place. We both didnt get to explore much during our student year..yelah, nama pun student masa tu. Budget ciput, harapkan kawn2 bwk jalan je. hehee..The girls were so excited knowing that they'll hv a chance to see the actual 'London Bridge'..yeah yeah, i know. That famous bridge in London is actually called Tower Bridge but people has been mistakenly it with London Bridge. I did explain this to the girls, and yet they still sang the fmous rhyme all the way to London. So then, we booked a travelodge near Heathrow, again at an offer price for booking period 3months in advance. 

Car Rental

Now that accomodations settled, time to browse for the cheapest car rental. The first you should know about renting a car in UK, always make sure you've browse through UK Car Rules and Regulations -> http://www.gatwick-car-rentals.co.uk/driving-uk/on-the-road.php 

We did make a mistake the first time when we excitedly booked a 5-seater car with only 300pd for 14days, when we are a family of six! Not after my aunties raised the issue then we knew that we have to get a 7 seater. Nsib bik boleh cancel booking. We end up with  7seater Zafira, approx 500pd for 14days (which were then got replaced by Ford Galaxy with no extra charges). And with 3 hildren under 100cm height we need to find boosters and car seats. Alhamdulillah, my sil in Liverpool had settle all these in advance. So now we'll just wait for the flight day praying hard that our Visas will be ready by then.

The Comeback - Intro

Pheeewww...it has been so long since i've last blog. What was the last entry? "Take a Break..' i did take a loooonnggng break huh. The last entry was like a year ago!! Gosh..lucky i still remember my password.  What make me came back? Hmm..not so sure. Maybe since ayman is more independent nowadays i hv more to my own sweet time. He spent a lot of time playing with the sisters and came looking for me only if either he got ushered off by the girls for not playing the way they want or just bcos he's feeling sleepy. Sighh..time really flies huh??